A Collection of College Words and Customs Part 8

The Trinity man who was _bracketed_ Senior Cla.s.sic.--_Ibid._, p.

187.

BRANDER. In the German universities a name given to a student during his second term.

Meanwhile large tufts and strips of paper had been twisted into the hair of the _Branders_, as those are called who have been already one term at the University, and then at a given signal were set on fire, and the _Branders_ rode round the table on chairs, amid roars of laughter.--_Longfellow's Hyperion_, p. 114.

See BRAND-FOX, BURNT FOX.

BRAND-FOX. A student in a German university "becomes a _Brand-fuchs_, or fox with a brand, after the foxes of Samson," in his second half-year.--_Howitt_.

BRICK. A gay, wild, thoughtless fellow, but not so _hard_ as the word itself might seem to imply.

He is a queer fellow,--not so bad as he seems,--his own enemy, but a regular _brick_.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 143.

He will come himself (public tutor or private), like a _brick_ as he is, and consume his share of the generous potables.--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 78.

See LIKE A BRICK.

BRICK MILL. At the University of Vermont, the students speak of the college as the _Brick Mill_, or the _Old Brick Mill_.

BUCK. At Princeton College, anything which is in an intensive degree good, excellent, pleasant, or agreeable, is called _buck_.

BULL. At Dartmouth College, to recite badly; to make a poor recitation. From the substantive _bull_, a blunder or contradiction, or from the use of the word as a prefix, signifying large, lubberly, blundering.

BULL-DOG. In the English universities, the lictor or servant who attends a proctor when on duty.

Sentiments which vanish for ever at the sight of the proctor with his _bull-dogs_, as they call them, or four muscular fellows which always follow him, like so many bailiffs.--_Westminster Rev._, Am.

Ed., Vol. x.x.xV. p. 232.

The proctors, through their attendants, commonly called _bull-dogs_, received much certain information, &c.--_Collegian's Guide_, p. 170.

And he had breathed the proctor's _dogs_.

_Tennyson, Prologue to Princess_.

BULLY CLUB. The following account of the _Bully Club_, which was formerly a most honored transmittendum at Yale College, is taken from an entertaining little work, ent.i.tled Sketches of Yale College. "_Bullyism_ had its origin, like everything else that is venerated, far back in antiquity; no one pretends to know the era of its commencement, nor to say with certainty what was the cause of its establishment, or the original design of the inst.i.tution.

We can only learn from dim and doubtful tradition, that many years ago, no one knows how many, there was a feud between students and townsmen: a sort of general ill-feeling, which manifested itself in the lower cla.s.ses of society in rudeness and insult. Not patiently borne with, it grew worse and worse, until a regular organization became necessary for defence against the nightly a.s.saults of a gang of drunken rowdies. Nor were their opponents disposed to quit the unequal fight. An organization in opposition followed, and a band of tipsy townsmen, headed by some hardy tars, took the field, were met, no one knows whether in offence or defence, and after a fight repulsed, and a huge knotty club wrested from their leader. This trophy of personal courage was preserved, the organization perpetuated, and the _Bully Club_ was every year, with procession and set form of speech, bestowed upon the newly acknowledged leader. But in process of time the organization has a.s.sumed a different character: there was no longer need of a system of defence,--the "Bully" was still acknowledged as cla.s.s leader. He marshalled all processions, was moderator of all meetings, and performed the various duties of a chief. The t.i.tle became now a matter of dispute; it sounded harsh and rude to ears polite, and a strong party proposed a change: but the supporters of antiquity pleaded the venerable character of the customs identified almost with the College itself. Thus the cla.s.ses were divided, a part electing a marshal, cla.s.s-leader, or moderator, and a part still choosing a _bully_ and _minor bully_--the latter usually the least of their number--from each cla.s.s, and still bestowing on them the wonted clubs, mounted with gold, the badges of their office.

"Unimportant as these distinctions seem, they formed the ground of constant controversy, each party claiming for its leader the precedence, until the dissensions ended in a scene of confusion too well known to need detail: the usual procession on Commencement day was broken up, and the partisans fell upon each other pell-mell; scarce heeding, in their hot fray, the orders of the Faculty, the threats of the constables, or even the rebuke of the chief magistrate of the State; the alumni were left to find their seats in church as they best could, the aged and beloved President following in sorrow, unescorted, to perform the duties of the day. It need not be told that the disputes were judicially ended by a peremptory ordinance, prohibiting all cla.s.s organizations of any name whatever."

A more particular account of the Bully Club, and of the manner in which the students of Yale came to possess it, is given in the annexed extract.

"Many years ago, the farther back towards the Middle Ages the better, some students went out one evening to an inn at Dragon, as it was then called, now the populous and pretty village of Fair Haven, to regale themselves with an oyster supper, or for some other kind of recreation. They there fell into an affray with the young men of the place, a hardy if not a hard set, who regarded their presence there, at their own favorite resort, as an intrusion. The students proved too few for their adversaries. They reported the matter at College, giving an aggravated account of it, and, being strongly reinforced, went out the next evening to renew the fight. The oystermen and sailors were prepared for them.

A desperate conflict ensued, chiefly in the house, above stairs and below, into which the sons of science entered pell-mell. Which came off the worse, I neither know nor care, believing defeat to be far less discreditable to either party, and especially to the students, than the fact of their engaging in such a brawl. Where the matter itself is essentially disgraceful, success or failure is indifferent, as it regards the honor of the actors. Among the Dragoners, a great bully of a fellow, who appeared to be their leader, wielded a huge club, formed from an oak limb, with a gnarled excrescence on the end, heavy enough to battle with an elephant. A student remarkable for his strength in the arms and hands, griped the fellow so hard about the wrist that his fingers opened, and let the club fall. It was seized, and brought off as a trophy. Such is the history of the Bully Club. It became the occasion of an annual election of a person to take charge of it, and to act as leader of the students in case of a quarrel between them, and others. 'Bully' was the t.i.tle of this chivalrous and high office."--_Scenes and Characters in College_, New Haven, 1847, pp. 215, 216.

b.u.mPTIOUS. Conceited, forward, pushing. An English Cantab's expression.--_Bristed_.

About nine, A.M., the new scholars are announced from the chapel gates. On this occasion it is not etiquette for the candidates themselves to be in waiting,--it looks too "_b.u.mptious_."--_Bristed's Five Years in an Eng. Univ._, Ed. 2d, p. 193.

BURIAL OF EUCLID. "The custom of bestowing burial honors upon the ashes of Euclid with becoming demonstrations of respect has been handed down," says the author of the Sketches of Yale College, "from time immemorial." The account proceeds as follows:--"This book, the terror of the dilatory and unapt, having at length been completely mastered, the cla.s.s, as their acquaintance with the Greek mathematician is about to close, a.s.semble in their respective places of meeting, and prepare (secretly for fear of the Faculty) for the anniversary. The necessary committee having been appointed, and the regular preparations ordered, a ceremony has sometimes taken place like the following. The huge poker is heated in the old stove, and driven through the smoking volume, and the division, marshalled in line, for _once_ at least see _through_ the whole affair. They then march over it in solemn procession, and are enabled, as they step firmly on its covers, to a.s.sert with truth that they have gone over it,--poor jokes indeed, but sufficient to afford abundant laughter. And then follow speeches, comical and pathetic, and shouting and merriment. The night a.s.signed having arrived, how carefully they a.s.semble, all silent, at the place appointed. Laid on its bier, covered with sable pall, and borne in solemn state, the corpse (i.e. the book) is carried with slow procession, with the moaning music of flutes and fifes, the screaming of fiddles, and the thumping and mumbling of a cracked drum, to the open grave or the funeral pyre. A gleaming line of blazing torches and twinkling lanterns wave along the quiet streets and through the opened fields, and the snow creaks hoa.r.s.ely under the tread of a hundred men. They reach the scene, and a circle forms around the consecrated spot; if the ceremony is a burial, the defunct is laid all carefully in his grave, and then his friends celebrate in prose or verse his memory, his virtues, and his untimely end: and three oboli are tossed into his tomb to satisfy the surly boatman of the Styx.

Lingeringly is the last look taken of the familiar countenance, as the procession pa.s.ses slowly around the tomb; and the moaning is made,--a sound of groans going up to the seventh heavens,--and the earth is thrown in, and the headstone with epitaph placed duly to hallow the grave of the dead. Or if, according to the custom of his native land, the body of Euclid is committed to the funeral flames, the pyre, duly prepared with combustibles, is made the centre of the ring; a ponderous jar of turpentine or whiskey is the fragrant incense, and as the lighted fire mounts up in the still night, and the alarm in the city sounds dim in the distance, the eulogium is spoken, and the memory of the ill.u.s.trious dead honored; the urn receives the sacred ashes, which, borne in solemn procession, are placed in some conspicuous situation, or solemnly deposited in some fitting sarcophagus. So the sport ends; a song, a loud hurrah, and the last jovial roysterer seeks short and profound slumber."--pp. 166-169.

The above was written in the year 1843. That the interest in the observance of this custom at Yale College has not since that time diminished, may be inferred from the following account of the exercises of the Soph.o.m.ore Cla.s.s of 1850, on parting company with their old mathematical friend, given by a correspondent of the New York Tribune.

"Arrangements having been well matured, notice was secretly given out on Wednesday last that the obsequies would be celebrated that evening at 'Barney's Hall,' on Church Street. An excellent band of music was engaged for the occasion, and an efficient Force Committee a.s.signed to their duty, who performed their office with great credit, taking singular care that no 'tutor' or 'spy' should secure an entrance to the hall. The 'countersign' selected was 'Zeus,' and fortunately was not betrayed. The hall being full at half past ten, the doors were closed, and the exercises commenced with music. Then followed numerous pieces of various character, and among them an _Oration_, a _Poem_, _Funeral Sermon_ (of a very metaphysical character), a _Dirge_, and, at the grave, a _Prayer to Pluto_. These pieces all exhibited taste and labor, and were acknowledged to be of a higher tone than that of any productions which have ever been delivered on a similar occasion. Besides these, there were several songs interspersed throughout the Programme, in both Latin and English, which were sung with great jollity and effect. The band added greatly to the character of the performances, by their frequent and appropriate pieces. A large coffin was placed before the altar, within which, lay the veritable Euclid, arranged in a becoming winding-sheet, the body being composed of combustibles, and these thoroughly saturated with turpentine. The company left the hall at half past twelve, formed in an orderly procession, preceded by the band, and bearing the coffin in their midst. Those who composed the procession were arrayed in disguises, to avoid detection, and bore a full complement of brilliant torches. The skeleton of Euclid (a faithful caricature), himself bearing a torch, might have been seen dancing in the midst, to the great amus.e.m.e.nt of all beholders. They marched up Chapel Street as far as the south end of the College, where they were saluted with three hearty cheers by their fellow-students, and then continued through College Street in front of the whole College square, at the north extremity of which they were again greeted by cheers, and thence followed a circuitous way to _quasi_ Potter's Field, about a mile from the city, where the concluding ceremonies were performed.

These consist of walking over the coffin, thus _surmounting the difficulties_ of the author; boring a hole through a copy of Euclid with a hot iron, that the cla.s.s may see _through_ it; and finally burning it upon the funeral pyre, in order to _throw light_ upon the subject. After these exercises, the procession returned, with music, to the State-House, where they disbanded, and returned to their desolate habitations. The affair surpa.s.sed anything of the kind that has ever taken place here, and nothing was wanting to render it a complete performance. It testifies to the spirit and character of the cla.s.s of '53."--_Literary World_, Nov. 23, 1850, from the _New York Tribune_.

In the Sketches of Williams College, printed in the year 1847, is a description of the manner in which the funeral exercises of Euclid are sometimes conducted in that inst.i.tution. It is as follows:--"The burial took place last night. The cla.s.s a.s.sembled in the recitation-room in full numbers, at 9 o'clock. The deceased, much emaciated, and in a torn and tattered dress, was stretched on a black table in the centre of the room. This table, by the way, was formed of the old blackboard, which, like a mirror, had so often reflected the image of old Euclid. In the body of the corpse was a triangular hole, made for the _post mortem_ examination, a report of which was read. Through this hole, those who wished were allowed to look; and then, placing the body on their heads, they could say with truth that they had for once seen through and understood Euclid.

"A eulogy was then p.r.o.nounced, followed by an oration and the reading of the epitaph, after which the cla.s.s formed a procession, and marched with slow and solemn tread to the place of burial. The spot selected was in the woods, half a mile south of the College.

As we approached the place, we saw a bright fire burning on the altar of turf, and torches gleaming through the dark pines. All was still, save the occasional sympathetic groans of some forlorn bull-frogs, which came up like minute-guns from the marsh below.

"When we arrived at the spot, the s.e.xton received the body. This dignitary presented rather a grotesque appearance. He wore a white robe bound around his waist with a black scarf, and on his head a black, conical-shaped hat, some three feet high. Haying fastened the remains to the extremity of a long, black wand, he held them in the fire of the altar until they were nearly consumed, and then laid the charred ma.s.s in the urn, muttering an incantation in Latin. The urn being buried deep in the ground, we formed a ring around the grave, and sung the dirge. Then, lighting our larches by the dying fire, we retraced our steps with feelings suited to the occasion."--pp. 74-76.

Of this observance the writer of the preface to the "Songs of Yale" remarks: "The _Burial of Euclid_ is an old ceremony practised at many colleges. At Yale it is conducted by the Soph.o.m.ore Cla.s.s during the first term of the year. After literary exercises within doors, a procession is formed, which proceeds at midnight through the princ.i.p.al streets of the city, with music and torches, conveying a coffin, supposed to contain the body of the old mathematician, to the funeral pile, when the whole is fired and consumed to ashes."--1853, p. 4.

From the lugubrious songs which are usually sung on these sad occasions, the following dirge is selected. It appears in the order of exercises for the "Burial of Euclid by the Cla.s.s of '57,"

which took place at Yale College, November 8, 1854.

Tune,--"_Auld Lang Syne_."

I.

Come, gather all ye tearful Sophs, And stand around the ring; Old Euclid's dead, and to his shade A requiem we'll sing: Then join the saddening chorus, all Ye friends of Euclid true; Defunct, he can no longer bore, "[Greek: Pheu pheu, oi moi, pheu pheu.]"[03]

II.

Though we to Pluto _dead_icate, No G.o.d to take him deigns, So, one short year from now will Fate Bring back his sad _re-manes_: For at Biennial his ghost Will prompt the tutor blue, And every fizzling Soph will cry, "[Greek: Pheu pheu, oi moi, pheu pheu.]"

III.

Though here we now his _corpus_ burn, And flames about him roar, The future Fresh shall say, that he's "Not dead, but gone before": We close around the dusky bier, And pall of sable hue, And silently we drop the tear; "[Greek: Pheu pheu, oi moi, pheu pheu.]"

BURLESQUE BILL. At Princeton College, it is customary for the members of the Soph.o.m.ore Cla.s.s to hold annually a Soph.o.m.ore Commencement, caricaturing that of the Senior Cla.s.s. The Soph.o.m.ore Commencement is in turn travestied by the Junior Cla.s.s, who prepare and publish _Burlesque Bills_, as they are called, in which, in a long and formal programme, such subjects and speeches are attributed to the members of the Soph.o.m.ore Cla.s.s as are calculated to expose their weak points.

See SOPh.o.m.oRE COMMENCEMENT.

BURLINGTON. At Middlebury College, a water-closet, privy. So called on account of the good-natured rivalry between that inst.i.tution and the University of Vermont at Burlington.